Kerber & Radwanska fired up the night in Stanford, semifinals set

I hope you enjoyed the Bank of the West Classic coverage of Women’s Tennis Blog’s photographer Jimmie48this week. I certainly did and I’m so excited that even the WTA has started to use his photos on their official website. That’s on top of all the player retweets and mentions we’ve had in recent months. Way to go, Jimmie48! Now he’s already at the Rogers Cup and will start his reports today. Make sure to follow him on Twitter for live updates.

As for the Bank of the West Classic Friday’s quarterfinals, the highlight of the day, and as it turned out possibly of the season as well, was the encounter between fifth-seeded Angelique Kerber and second seed Agnieszka Radwanska. The German won the match 4-6 6-4 6-4, splitting their head-to-head record to five-all.

Anne Keothavong‘s reaction: “Awesome match between Kerber and Radwanska! One of the best this year on the WTA.” Karolina Pliskova tweeted: “What a match @Angelique Kerber @ARadwanska. Better than any movie :).” Rennae Stubbs shared her excitement: “The BEST match of the year going on right now with Radwanska and Kerber.”

Kerber’s semifinal opponent will be eighth seed Elina Svitolina, who survived a thriller of her own, a comeback victory over Alison Riske, 4-6 7-5 6-1.

The second semifinal of the Premier-level tournament in Stanford will feature fourth seed Karolina Pliskova and Varvara Lepchenko. Pliskova dispatched Ajla Tomljanovic 6-2 6-4, who was probably distressed that her biggest supporter, our photographer Jimmie48, left to another tournament. 😀 As for Lepchenko, she also had to fight a three-setter against Mona Barthel, eventually winning 6-7(3) 6-2 6-3.